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9/11tv First Lady Meets With Former Hostages Held by Hamas CSPAN February 9, 2026 1:43am-1:56am EST
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[indiscernible] in the white house. [indiscernible] was hostage for 51 days. captured by hamas on october 7, 2023, and he was captured for 484 days. after she was freed she called me, wanted to see me, and we set up a meeting in new york in january 2025.
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it was emotional meeting and we discussed on camera and available [indiscernible] melania. it was very emotional. she presented me with two of his books and when i came home that evening i gave it to my husband, and informed him the situation and i know he was fighting for all of the hostages, and as we know now, most of the hostages are freed and home with the family. she was a warrior. she was fighting very hard, and i know he suffered a lot. i'm happy to see you at home with your children, with your grandchildren, with your family,
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and i know you are getting back your -- giving back your time, your energy to other people, so thank you for that. would you like to say a few words? >> yes. i want to start by saying thank you to the first lady, melania trump, and to president trump. i want to thank you for being a caring, compassionate person and for supporting and helping aviva. during those difficult days you helped her enormously. in many ways.
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it is an honor, it is a privilege and i'm grateful to have the opportunity to say that to you, and the person sitting next ep i am eternally grateful to you and president trump for bringing me home and for bringing all the hostages back to their families. and they just want to mention the extraordinary mobilization in the height for -- fight for aviva, and my,, and all of the hostages' freedom, and how it moved me deeply and showed us the true meaning of holding onto hope, even in the most difficult moments. now that i have regained my freedom and i have celebrated one year freedom, being released from cap -- captivity this
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sunday, i have committed myself to partnering with israeli humanitarian aid organizations to help store hope for others. giving back is a crucial part of my recovery and rehabilitation process. aviva and i just returned -- just came from on sunday from one of the world's largest refugee camps in kenya. this is providing access to clean water, hygiene, -- hygiene, sanitation, and educate -- education to thousands of refugees that otherwise would not have any of those. the work has inspired me and given me a new sense of purpose.
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what a remarkable and amazing accomplishment, bringing all of the hostages back home, and we have a mission ahead of us to help others that are struggling and this is our new mission in life. this is the road we are on. this is our journey. and i also want to end by congratulating you on the release of your movie. i am so much looking forward to seeing it. i'm so grateful for you deciding to have aviva be a part of your movie. thank you. >> i just want to say, to come home, to thank you, because before we came home you gave me so much hope and i could feel your heart with me, and i knew
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how important it was for you to go back home and talk to president trump and share your feelings. i want to thank you for that and i want to thank you for putting me in your special melania film, because i was there talking to you not for myself, but for the whole world, bringing hostages home was the most important thing that i could think about in this world, and now it is all over the world, the bad things, but i'm lucky, and thank you for being with me. and thank you, melania, for helping. i really appreciate it. i decided to write a book and it is dedicated to my grandchildren. they are hard stories to hear -- to hear, and in the book i wrote
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thank you to melania, because you helped bring me home and helped bring the hostages home, so i'm thanking you. and in my book everybody that will read it will understand what happened to somebody that is 64 years old, kidnapped from a, and went through somebody moments that i thought i was sure i was going to die, and i am alive, and i decided to tell. so, thank you very much. i will always remember you. thank you. and good luck with the film. >> thank you. >> and we are going to make this world a better world together. >> what did you think of the
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president after your meeting with him? >> i gave him the book and i explained the situation where she thought it was how she was doing, she didn't have much information, but she knew how much he was suffering because she was in for 50 days and i explain to him everything. i know how hard he was working to release me in the hospital. >> ukrainian children? [indiscernible] >> i'm working on it. i'm working on it and we are in the process, so i hope we have success very soon. i will keep you posted. >> do you feel it is appropriate to use official [indiscernible] >> this is not promotion. we are here celebrating the release of the hostages of aviva
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and keith. they were in washington, d.c. and they called me. he said they would like to come over to thank me and to give hugs and that is why we are here. it is nothing to do with promotion. >> thank you. >> thank you, press. >> we are here celebrating the release and the lives of these two incredible people, so let's honor that. >> thank you, everyone.
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